Ukraine-based SE Odessa Commercial Sea Port (OCSP, OMTP) was the first among the country’s enterprises introduced the regime of "free practice" while loading / unloading oil tankers, the Odessa Port Authority said.

    On May 22, 2011 the so-called "free practice" was used for handling the tanker Minerva Concert. After the ship docked at the Berth Number 1 for loading 55,000 tons of fuel oil handling operations began when a control agencies' commission and surveyors stepped on board. As a result, the delay of ship was reduced by 3 hours.

    The Odessa Port Authority intends to use the “free practice” regime for all vessels making calls at the harbor, which will increase the efficiency of handling cargo ships at the port of Odessa.

    The term "free practice" means the permission for carrying out handling operations before the border and customs control officers end their work onboard a ship.

    State-owned Odessa Commercial Sea Port is a largest port of the Black Sea-Azov basin. The port encompasses 14 ha, 9-km waterfront and 54 berths to accommodate 13meter draft vessels. Port of Odessa enables trade flow in the amount of over 14m tons of dry cargo and 14m tons of petroleum products a year. In 2010, cargo throughput of OCSP shrank by 11.8% year-over-year to 24,7 million tons and container traffic totaled 351,600 TEUs.

(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)